ENGLEWOOD — The pauses are rarer now, but they still bug the heck out of him. Rookie pauses, kid stuff, the ones where you find yourself thinking for a tenth of a second as opposed to just reacting. And then some slant route turns a tenth of a second into a stinking eternity.

"You want to get past that after, what, the first couple of games? The preseason, you want to be done with that. You just want to know the defense as a whole and you want to be able to just flow. And I won't say I'm there yet. I'm close, I hope. There's still a lot of work to do. A lot of improvement."

If the guy is faking it until he makes it, it's been one quality con so far. Jewell, the first-year inside linebacker out of Iowa, recorded five stops last weekend, four of them solo, in a 30-23 loss at Kansas City. The former Hawkeyes star rolls into a Week 9 date with Houston — and likely his third start of the season, given the state of Brandon Marshall's knee — as Pro Football Focus' third-highest graded rookie linebacker (72.9), behind only Darius Leonard of the Colts (82.3) and Leighton Vander Esch of the Cowboys (84.1).

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"His football IQ is above average and therefore he's at least able to get lined up better and more consistently than most rookies," linebackers coach Reggie Herring said of Jewell, a fourth-round selection this past April. "You then add his intangibles as an individual: He plays hard, he's physical, he has a lot of personal pride, he hates to lose, he has excellent football instincts and he's fast enough. Add all of that and you've got a guy, as a football coach, that you enjoy developing and being around."

Herring doesn't suffer fools — or foolish mistakes — gladly, let alone chuck said fool into the deep end of the pool when the season's on the line. But the swimming moments have outpaced the sinking ones, rough edges and all. After getting in on only seven snaps against Arizona, Jewell logged 37 — 64 percent of the Broncos' defensive plays — against the Chiefs in Week 8.

"He's in a tough position," outside linebacker Shane Ray said of Jewell, who has appeared in 173 of 532 defensive snaps (32.5 percent) through eight games. "He's got to come in and be an NFL-ready linebacker right now. And obviously, it's a lot more complex than it is in college. What I can say is that he's not scared to make mistakes."

Some drops on coverage at Arrowhead Stadium looked more confident than others, granted, although Kansas City's arsenal has been making a lot of linebackers look silly over the last two months. Opposing offensive coordinators can spot a rookie on film from a mile away, and won't hesitate to design a plan that messes with a kid's head.

"Being a rookie coming in and having that pressure, it's not going to go as planned every time," Ray said. "Josey continues to be coachable. (And) he's got a coach that is on guys' tails (in linebackers) Reggie Herring — you hear him, every day, screaming.

"It's harder when you come in the league and you don't have examples and you don't have people to really show you how to do things. With Josey, you've got two guys that are pretty good, definitely above average linebackers in the NFL, who are showing you how to do things. He's taking that coaching and he's moving in, he's making plays."

A year ago, Jewell was the one making the calls in the middle of a salty Iowa defense; this autumn, he's re-learning how to listen, how to process things, when fellow inside linebacker Todd Davis starts lining up the chess pieces.

"I was communicating more, I was the Todd of here, pretty much, (in college)," said Jewell, who'll be presented with the 2017 Lott Trophy — given by the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation in honor of on-field performance and off-the-field character — on Nov. 10 when his Hawkeyes host Northwestern.

"I still get a couple calls, but now it's more listening to Todd and taking direction from him since he knows pretty much most of it. I'm just trying to follow him and try to see what he has for me. He's been a great leader so far. (You) just have got to be ready all the time. You've just got to be ready to be in there whenever they call you, pretty much."

With Marshall not practicing Wednesday or Thursday because of a bone bruise, that call is coming. Again.

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